Rubber Ducky
by Dragons Quill
Summary: Just a bit of fluff about dear Severus Snape and Hermione. It’s bath time at Hogwarts. SSHG


Rubber Ducky!

_**Disclaimer:**_ I don't own Harry Potter or associated characters, never will, and I certainly am not making any money from this. If I did I would have my very own Severus and mansion in the country. 

_Summary: _Just a bit of fluff about dear Severus Snape and Hermione. It's bath time at Hogwarts. (SS/HG)

**A/N: just something that sort of ran around my head and demanded that it be addressed. So here it is, hope you enjoy. For those waiting patiently for the next chapter of Raising Phoenix, it will be up in a week or two. I am still working on it and still don't have a lot of time in my schedule. Anyways, I hope that you enjoy this little ficlet.**

Severus Snape closed and warded his chamber doors behind him with a relieved sigh. It had been a very, very long day. There had been three explosions in the dungeons from various levels of dunderheaded children intent on relocating the castle to the next township. Oh how Severus wished back to the days when it was only Neville Longbottom intent on displaying the result of a small pureblood gene pool. With a shudder he remembered the many evenings he had spent over a cauldron making himself vast amounts of headache and relaxing potions he had to make to keep himself sane while nursing a large bottle of Firewhisky. He was thankful that he had found other ways of relieving stress in the interim, it defiantly cut down on the expense for the vast amounts of ingredients for sober up and hangover relief potions too. Running his hand across his face with a sigh he handed off his outer teaching robes to a house elf that had materialized at his knee.

"Is there anything Spunk can get the Master?" The little house elf squeaked from beneath the voluminous material.

"No," he said. "I just need to relax a bit, set my things out for a shower."

"Yes Master, Spunk will do that Sir!" The house elf squeaked and with a pop was gone, having taken his robes away to be washed.

Severus took very little notice and toed his shoes off after wandlessly untying them. Walking tiredly across the living room he went down a hall way and through to the master bedroom suite, unbuttoning his frock coat as he went exposing his silk white under shirt. Passing through the bedroom and into the bathroom he paused at the door with a scowl. Spunk had laid out his bath things, but they were next to the large tub instead of the shower as normal. The bathtub was full of hot water and bubbles. Yes, bubbles, lots and lots of faintly pink and purple bubbles. His sensitive nose picked up on the scents of lavender and soothing spices. It seemed that his house elf felt he would better relax in a bubble bath than in a shower. With a sigh he shed his shirt and coat, putting them into a hamper along the wall. He walked over to the sink and washed his face looking into the mirror.

"Well, I might as well." He sighed to his reflection. His reflection scowled back at him but did not disagree. "It is Friday after all. I won't have to hear the fall out because no one will find out."

He turned away from the mirror and then shed the rest of his clothing and stepped into the small pool sized bathtub. The water was steaming hot, the bubbles parted way to envelop him in a soothing fragrance. Sitting down near the edge he sat on the ledge and he leaned back with a sigh, letting the warmth seep into his tight muscles. Closing his eyes he leaned back even farther he came to an abrupt stop with a grimace. Reaching around him he tried to find the source of his discomfort. He pulled his hand out from behind him and held what had poked him so that he could see what it was. In front of him he held a large yellow rubber duck. With a sigh he looked at the rubber duck with a slight scowl and a raised eyebrow.

"Bath Time!" The rubber duck quacked.

"So Sir Ducky, what are you doing here?" He asked with an ever so slight smirk.

"Pretty bubbles." The duck quacked cheerfully. "Let's go swimming!" He wiggled and hopped up and down in his hand.

"How did I ever get talked into owning one of these things?" Severus asked the air as the duck jumped up and down in his hand flapping his wings, sending bubbles everywhere. "Very well, off with you." He said wandlessly deactivating the bath toy and then sending it across the bathroom to rest on the box by the door. "What are you smirking at Madame? He asked raising an eyebrow with a smirk of his own, trying to look displeased, although he found it difficult with the view he was presented.

"Oh I don't know, perhaps the dark dour Potions Master reclining in a bubble bath of pink and purple bubbles while talking to a big yellow rubber duck." Hermione said reclining against the doorframe dressed only in long red bathrobe.

"Humph." He snorted and turned around so that he was reclining back to his original position and laid his head back on the side of the tub.

"Oh Severus." She sighed with a light laugh behind her voice. She came off the doorway and came to kneel beside his head resting on the floor. She gently ran her hands along his throat and up past his cheeks to tangle in his hair. She leaned down and put her cheek against his. "I am glad that you are home safe. I heard about the explosions in Potions class. Did they do much damage?" She kissed him just below his jaw. Severus could not help the appreciative groan that escaped his throat and reached up to tangle his hand in her hair.

"There was one kid that came away with purple hair and another that had elephant ears, not exactly sure how that happened." He said with his eyes still closed and a smile. "But my labs did survive and so did the students, that's the important part." He sighed as she stroked his face from his throat to his hair again. "What did you do with your day?"

"Oh you know, take points from Slytherins for acting all stuffed up in class and giving points to Gryffindor for telling the right answers." She chuckled. "They don't seem to take my subject as seriously as yours."

"Well apart from straying into the street and being hit buy a bus, I do believe that my class has a more immediate affect on the children's well being." He chuckled as he let his hand stray to her neck, even though he still did not open his eyes. "Besides a full knowledge of muggle things is not completely necessary for survival, the basics will do. But when it comes to potions, you had better not do any experimenting unless you are a fully trained Master, and even then it can be dangerous." He told her. He made an annoyed sound as Hermione leaned back away from him and withdrew her hands from their work on his scalp. "Well, it is true, muggle interactions can be learned on the fly while you had better have both feet firmly planted on the ground when dealing with potions." He opened his eyes to look up where Hermione should have been, wanting to feel her closeness. He could not see her from his vantage point but he could hear her. He listened as he heard the sash of her bathrobe being untied and then as it pooled on the floor. Then he saw her as she slipped into the bubbles beside him. Sitting up he came face to face with a grinning Hermione as she scooted closer to him.

"So Severus, you believe that your class is more important than mine?" She asked smoothly, coming to settle onto his lap on the ledge under water. She reached out and rested her hands on his chest. She had quite a satisfied grin on her face indicating she thought that she had him.

"You wife are trying to put words in my mouth." He growled lightly and reached out to settle his hands on her waist, pulling her even closer to him. "I do believe the Sorting Hat made a mistake with you." He grinned and ran his hands up her sides, kissing her exposed chest as it was within easy reach.

"No, I am very much a Gryffindor, but I do believe that my marriage to a Slytherin may have caused me to adopt and adapt to some more Slytherin like ways." She sighed as he carefully explored every inch of skin within reach of his talented mouth. "As for your thoughts on my class, must I remind you that you are married to a muggleborn witch and it would be wise not to discount my subject. I may have to give you a private lesson to bring you up to speed if you keep lagging." She teased him, wiggling seductively in his lap.

"You grow more Slytherin each day wife." He mumbled. "But I must say that your very Gryffindor tendencies to explore new ways of doing things to be quite to my liking. I must ask though, before we get too much farther, where is Selena and Simon? I have not heard you mention anything of her yet tonight. The last thing we need is for them to wander in."

"Selena is with Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny." She told him. "She is staying the night. Benjamin is having a birthday party. We are expected to go to the party tomorrow afternoon. Simon is currently being watched by Grandma Minerva as a favor to me. We have our chambers to ourselves tonight."

"You let my daughter stay at the Potters and left my son with the Headmistress?" He growled lightly, although if it was from the idea of Selena at the Potters or the sensation of his wife nibbling at the underside of his jaw was unclear. "You are bound and determined that she will be sorted into Gryffindor in two years and that Simon will follow in five aren't you? You will stop at nothing, that is a completely Gryffindor household you have sent her to and to leave Simon in the care of the former Gryffindor Head of house is just as bad."

"And what is wrong with Gryffindor?" She purred from his throat as his hands blazed trails of fire over her body. "You married a Gryffindor."

"But I am Head of Slytherin House." He growled. "My daughter should be in my house. Besides it would be quite the coup, Head of Gryffindor's daughter in Slytherin House. As for marrying a Gryffindor, I must say that it has been quite the adventure conquering the lioness."

"You think you have me conquered?" She asked with a smirk as she messaged his scalp beneath her fingers and watched him melt. "I believe I have charmed the snake more than you have tamed the lioness."

"I believe it is more of a mutual understanding." Severus sighed. "I love you and you love me, though I still wonder why sometimes. You are a beautiful goddess, both in body and soul, how can I do anything but encourage you in your desires. Besides you do wonders for my stress levels woman. How I survived so long without you is a mystery." He reached up and drew her down for a deep, heart rendering kiss with a good measure of lust infused into it. "You know just how to make my day better when I have had a stressful day. I thank God every morning that you are mine and have been for the last ten years since you agreed to be bound to me. I would trade nothing for the life, love and family you have given me. Even if it means it appears that the Head of Slytherin House has been charmed by the Lioness of the Gryffindors. Besides, house rivalries adds a bit of extra spice to the mix. Knowing that I have the Head of my rival house in my bed every night to take into my arms and make love to is a rush I would not give up for the world." He growled with great appreciation as her hands strayed below the water line and her mouth made a fiery path along his jaw and along his neck. "Speaking of bed, I do believe that is where we should adjourn to continue this." He groaned as she held him intimately. "I do not want to spend the night in the tub and smell like these bubbles into next week, or look like a prune before we are done." He managed to separate his wife from him and then pulled himself up onto the side of the tub. Hermione followed him. He lazily flicked his wand and dried them both before he swooped her up into his arms and out into the master bedroom for a night reminiscent of nearly ten years prior.

**A/N: I hope you all enjoyed the little one shot. I know I had fun writing it and I believe it has restarted the creative juices that have been a bit stagnate lately. As always got to say thanks to my wonderful beta, Skydancinghobbit, the one who is responsible for getting me infected with the fan fic bug. **

**As for everyone who has read all the way to the bottom yeah for you! I would love to hear what you thought about it. so please, please press that little blue button off to the left that says 'submit review' and do just that. comments of any kind certainly help keep the imagination in full swing. Thanks- Dragons Quill**


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